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Five face removal after raid on Amersham restaurant
24 February 2012
Four men and a woman from Bangladesh are in detention and face being removed from the UK following a UK Border Agency raid on a restaurant in Amersham.
Acting on intelligence, officers visited the Blue Orchid on Sycamore Road on Monday 20 February 2012. They questioned staff to check if they had the right to work in the UK.
Three Bangladeshi men who were working there were arrested for being in the country illegally after their visas expired. They were all detained pending their removal.
Their employer could now face a fine of up to £30,000 - up to £10,000 per illegal worker - unless proof is provided to the UK Border Agency that the correct right-to-work checks were carried out.
In residential premises above the restaurant another 3 Bangladeshi nationals were found, all of whom were in the UK illegally having overstayed their visas.
A man and a woman were arrested and detained pending their removal, while a 63-year-old woman was granted immigration bail and must now report to the UK Border Agency while her case is dealt with.
Assistant director, Rob Scott, who heads the UK Border Agency's Buckinghamshire local immigration team, said:
'We carry out hundreds of operations like this every year across the Thames Valley, and where we find people who are in the UK illegally we will seek to remove them.
'But we are also looking to target the employers who take on illegal workers and fuel illegal immigration.
'Those who fail to carry out the legally-required checks on staff and choose to break the law should know that we are out there looking for them and they will face heavy fines.'
Every year, the agency imposes civil penalties on thousands of companies which failed to carry out legally-required checks on their staff.
Employers unsure of the steps they need to take to avoid employing illegal workers should refer to the preventing illegal working section of this website, or they can call the UK Border Agency's employers helpline on 0300 123 4699.
You can find more information and contact details on the Buckinghamshire local immigration team page.
Anyone who suspects that illegal workers are being employed at a business can report crime on this website, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.